Unity in Christ

     What does it mean to be "one" with one another? In scripture we often see familiar themes, and over and over again throughout the letters we see the phrase "One in Christ", but what does that look like, what does it accomplish, and how is it achieved? Looking at Philippians 1:27-2:2 among others we will see what is meant by "unity in Christ".

     Philippians 1:27-2:2 in the ESV says: "²⁷ Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹ For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, ³⁰ engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Christ's Example of Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind."

     500 years before Paul wrote this letter there happened a very important event: the Battle of Thermopylae. The Persians were invading Europe from the east in an attempt to conquer the world (common theme in history). Fortunately the Persian army would have to come through a small pass called Thermopylae and the Spartan general and king Leonidas saw this as an opportunity to stop their advance. Unfortunately the Persians would be coming through the pass on an important religious festival for the Spartans, during which no one was allowed to fight. Leonidas ignored the command from the counsel to wait, and because the whole army would not leave he took his personal guard of only 300 men to defend the pass against the Persian army of over 1,000,000 soldiers including the dreaded "immortals" who had never lost a fight. Long story short the heroic Greeks held out for three days against incredible odds, which allowed time for the rest of Sparta to wake up and get prepared for war. How did 300 men stop one million? Well it helped that they were Spartans, but they had also perfected the art of the hoplite phalanx, which basically was a large group of men fighting as one giant spear (ch 1 vs 27b). When opposing soldiers saw the phalanx coming for them, they knew that their destruction was imminent (ch 1 vs 28b).

     Just as the strength of the Spartan phalanx was in its unity, so the Christian church is strongest when each member realizes that he is part of a whole, and does not try to be a lone wolf. Isn't that the deffiniton of friendship? Two people striving side by side for a common purpose? How do you become unified with your brothers and sisters in the Church? Become friends. Find a common goal and strive together toward it (chapter 1 vs 27b). Also read Philippians 4:3. The word used to describe unity in chapter 2 verse 2, "σύμψυχος" [sympsychos], also shows up in 1 Corinthians 1:10 and Hebrews 4:2 (and also Judges 20:11). Both times Paul (and whoever wrote Hebrews) are encouraging unity for the purpose of the advancement of the gospel. 

    So what is does it mean to be united in Christ with your brethren? Practically it means to be striving side by side with them for the advancement of the gospel (Phil 1:27). It means that you sacrifice your own personal desires (Phil 2:4) for the common good willingly because you want to do whatever is necessary to obtain the resurrection of the dead (Phil 3:11) not because it somehow makes you righteous (Phil 3:7-9) but because its what Christ did (1 Cor 11:1). 

Tattoos

     The last decade has seen an extreme and sudden rise in the amount of tattooing going down. A recent survey put the figure at as much as 40% of adults aged 20-35 have at least one tattoo. From this arises the natural question: "Is it wrong to get a tattoo if you are a Christian?" It seems like everyone has a strong opinion on the subject, but who is right? Passages such as Leviticus 19:28, 1 Corinthians 6:19, and Galatians 5:1 can help shed some light on the topic.

     Leviticus 19:28 (ESV) says: "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord." The answer to our seems like it should be simple then, right? Well while it is true that the Israelites were not allowed to Tattoo themselves they were also not allowed to shave their temples, have a scraggly beard [Leviticus 19:27], eat catfish [Leviticus 11:12] or eat any meat with blood in it [Leviticus 19:26]. I've never heard anyone debate whether or not its right to eat steak, so clearly this Leviticus verse is not conclusive. 

     In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul reminds the Corinthians that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is often argued that just as one wouldn't deface a regular temple or church by putting graffiti on it one should not mark up one's body. This logic is faulty however because not only do we write names and Bible verses on our churches but with some hermeneutical research it becomes clear that Paul is talking about sexual immorality and defacing your body with sin (Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. [1 Corinthians 6:18 ESV]). Therefore, to say that 1 Corinthians was intended to keep Christians free from tattoos is more than just a stretch, its misinterpreting the verse and losing valuable meaning of the body being a temple. 

     Finally lets take a look at Galatians 5:1-3. Here Paul points out the obvious, if we try to keep the law because its the "law" them we are subject to the authority of the whole law. We are free in Christ and therefore all things are lawful for us. We see in 1 Corinthians 9:21 that we are clearly no longer under the Old Testament law. Anyone who would say that he keeps the law is a liar and starts to go down the road of Phariseeness. Clearly there are right things and wrong things (Romans 6:10), but these are illustrated in the 10 Commandments, the moral code of God. Therefore the question becomes not "Is it lawful" but instead "Is it a good idea" as seen in 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 1 Corinthians 10:23. As we see in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 if your ministry field is among those who tattoo themselves then it only makes sense to get a God-glorifying tattoo to relate to them, make acceptance of your teaching easier (no strict laws), and show everyone a constant reminder that you belong to Christ. 

     As we have seen it is neither unlawful to get a tattoo, nor is it morally wrong according to the moral code that God has implanted in each of our hearts and written in the Ten Commandments. To say that one must not tattoo one's self is legalism and makes cheep the grace of God. However, while it is never wrong to tattoo oneself, it is not always a good idea because of circumstances or prejudices. Whether or not tattoos should be utilized depends on to whom one is planning on ministering to. Ultimately the decision should be based on heart condition. If one wants a tattoo because they are "cool" then it shows that one's heart is focused inward instead of outward, and a tattoo would not be useful, however if one wants a tattoo to further ministry and glorify God then it can be a very good thing. 

Science

Science.

Science frustrates me, not because I don't like studying it, I do, but because it is misused so often to try to prove untrue things. The phrase "scientifically proven" drives me up the wall especially, first because its technically impossible to prove anything, and second I can actually "prove" that weight lifting makes you weaker using science, and that is obviously not true. I guess the thing that makes me so biased against science is it is twisted the most in the two areas that I spend the most time researching, studying, and debating: the origin of everything, and bodybuilding.

In the area of bodybuilding the hard thing is there isn't one "truth". Everything is subjective, there isn't one cookie cutter that everyone fits into to get the most results. But every week there are 22.7 new ideas about what gets the best results and what you HAVE to do to get ripped, and they all contradict each other. I'm pretty old school, you do what gets results. Forget about the exact science behind every single exercise, just work out hard, eat well, sleep lots, and be consistent and you will get in shape.

For apologetics and the origin of life things are less complicated. There is only one truth and our job is just to find it. Therefore saying that "science" has "proved" something is not only incorrect but also quite prideful, because no one was there, even their fancy "dating" methods are just like telling the time a candle has been burning by the amount left, with no idea how long it was at the beginning. I prefer logic and reasoning (two other horribly misused words) to find the origin of life. We have lots of facts, so we need to find a theory that best fits the facts. I am convinced that Christianity gives the best explanation for the facts. In fact it works so well that the more information I find, the better the theory works. I have actually won every single debate I've conducted in the last four months without much of a fight whatsoever. Every atheist you debate will use science as their biggest "proof" so if you can discredit science the battle becomes a cake walk. When you are right, both sides figure out pretty quickly.

So basically, next time someone tries to hook you on a new product or a new idea that has been "proven with science" spit in their eye!

Young or Foolish?

So I haven't posted for a while... Here is something to chew on:

Young or foolish?

Young does not necessarily mean foolish. Foolish means foolish, it is not determined by age. You can have 90 year old idiots and 12 year old geniuses. Wisdom, the opposite of foolishness, is made up of three things: knowledge, experience, and understanding. You can have a very experienced and knowledgeable old fellow who has no understanding, you can also have a young guy who has lots of knowledge and understanding, but limited experience, neither of these people qualify as wise. Wisdom is something that you can not self diagnose, it must be obvious to other people. This is why God is the most wise being that has ever existed; he has ultimate amounts of every facet of wisdom, he is all knowing, all understanding, and has infinite experience.